How to manage knowledge well? Evidence from the life insurance industry

Abstract

As using knowledge management and performance effectively to gain competitive advantage is becoming critical in today's knowledge-based economy, an increasing number of industries are trying to explore optimal methods of managing knowledge-based assets, so-called intellectual capital (IC) in both visible and invisible forms and evaluate their performance in this regard. In Taiwan, the life insurance industry includes two crucial factors: first, it is one of main mechanisms that could significantly influence Taiwanese economic growth; and second, knowledge needed for high performance itself. However, not only is difficulty in professions growing, high flow rate of talent and an increase in, and extension of, diversity services, but the recent global economic depression is a drawback that is seriously damaging competitive advantage domestically and internationally. This phenomenon also obviously affects Taiwanese economic growth. Since the renaissance and auspicious future of Taiwanese life insurance industry might be expected by senior life insurance experts, the aim of this study is on the basis of its development nature, profit generation by effective knowledge management, to overcome the highlighted difficulties by developing the critical criteria of IC and utilizing the developed IC criteria to explore the benchmark company. This is accomplished through a hybrid multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach based on a decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), the analytic network process (ANP), and VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR). Companies in the life insurance industry are encouraged to successfully evaluate and improve knowledge management performance based on the research findings, to bring about radical change in the existing state of affairs and to develop future strategies efficiently and solidly.